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bit

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Pronunciation

bit1 small piece

Etymology

The small piece is inherited from Middle English bite (“morsel”), inherited from Old English bita (“piece bitten off, morsel”),[2][3][4] from bītan (“to bite”),[2][5] from Proto-Germanic *bitōn,[2][6] from Proto-Indo-European *bheid- (“to split”).[6][3] Its relatives include Old Norse biti and German Bissen (“a bite, morsel”),[2][7] and in English bite and bitt.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A piece bitten off, a morsel: Old English bita, before 1050, in the West Saxon Gospels.[2] Middle English bite is found probably about 1200, in the Ormulum.[2]

Semantic evolution

From a mouthful the word spread to any small piece or fragment, in the 16th century[5] or about 1600,[6] and to a short space of time in the 1650s.[6] The bit as a small coin, as in two bits, began in the American South and the West Indies, where wedges were cut from Spanish silver dollars, and came to mean an eighth of a dollar.[6] A bit part in the theatre is from 1909.[6] An entertainer's routine and, informally, a kind of behaviour or situation (the whole family bit) are later senses.[8]

Timeline

  • before 1050 – Old English bita, a morsel.[2]
  • c. 1200 – Middle English bite (Ormulum).[2]
  • 16th century – a small piece of anything.[5]
  • 1650s – a short time.[6]
  • 1909 – bit part.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A small piece, portion or amount.
  2. A short time; a moment.
  3. A small part in a play or film; a bit part.
  4. A regular routine by an entertainer; an act.
  5. (informal) A particular kind of behaviour or situation.
  6. (US) An eighth of a dollar, used in even multiples: two bits.

bit2 mouthpiece, drill

Etymology

The mouthpiece and the drill are inherited from Middle English bitt,[9][4] inherited from Old English bite (“a bite, biting”),[2][3][5] from Proto-Germanic *bitiz,[2][5] from the base of bītan (“to bite”).[5][10] Its relatives include German Biss (“a bite”) and Old Norse bit.[2][7] Hoad finds the source of the sense “mouthpiece” unclear, and compares Old English bitol (“bridle”) and German Gebiss.[5] Barnhart notes that Old English bite and bita merged in Middle English, and can be told apart only by the history of their senses.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A bite, the act of biting: Old English bite, about 725, in Beowulf.[2]

Semantic evolution

Barnhart dates the sense “cutting edge” to probably before 1300, in Arthour and Merlin,[2] and Hoad to the 14th century.[5] The part of a bridle that goes in a horse's mouth is a bit from the mid-14th century[6] or about 1386,[2] and the boring tool, the “biting” part of a drill, from the 1590s.[6][2] The verb, “to put a bit in a horse's mouth”, and figuratively “to curb”, is from 1583.[9][7]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – Old English bite, a bite (Beowulf).[2]
  • before 1300 – a cutting edge.[2]
  • mid-14th century – the mouthpiece of a bridle.[6]
  • 1583 – verb, to put a bit on a horse.[9]
  • 1590s – a boring tool.[6][2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The metal mouthpiece of a bridle, used to control a horse.
  2. A tool for drilling or boring, fitted in a brace or drill.
  3. The cutting edge of a tool such as an axe.
  4. The part of a key that enters the lock and works the bolt.
  5. Something that controls or restrains.

Verb

  1. To put a bit in the mouth of a horse.
  2. To check or curb as if with a bit.

bit3 binary digit

Etymology

The unit of information is a blend of binary and digit,[3][11][7] coined in 1948 by the American computer pioneer John W. Tukey,[2][6] probably because it was the same as bit “small piece”.[6][7] Compare byte.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A binary digit, a unit of information in computing: 1948.[2][6][9]

Timeline

  • 1948 – coined by John W. Tukey.[2][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (computing) Either of the binary digits 0 and 1.
  2. A unit of information equal to a choice between two equally likely alternatives.
  3. A unit of information storage capacity, as of memory.
  • bite
  • bitt
  • bitter
  • byte
  • binary
  • digit

Usage notes

Bit is also the past tense of bite.[8][6]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  11. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press